Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Judge signs off on $26 billion T-Mobile and Sprint merger. Now what?

-----
" Why Corporations Are Helping Donald Trump Lie About Jobs
.. your 2nd down .. excerpt ..
"It’s easy to see why SoftBank and Sprint might want to help Mr. Trump take credit for creating jobs. SoftBank’s chief executive, Masayoshi Son, wants the Department of Justice’s antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission to allow a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. In 2014 [ https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/sprint-and-softbank-said-to-abandon-bid-for-t-mobile-us/ ] regulators appointed by President Obama made clear to Mr. Son that they would not approve such a transaction because it would cut the number of national wireless companies to three, from four, greatly reducing competition [ https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/opinion/keeping-the-wireless-business-competitive.html ] in a concentrated industry. Mr. Son sees a new opening for his deal in Mr. Trump, who has surrounded himself with people who have sided with large telecommunications companies [ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/opinion/expect-a-cozy-trump-telecom-alliance.html ] in regulatory debates and have argued against tough antitrust enforcement."
-----

A federal court sides with the companies in an antitrust case to block the merger.

Roger Cheng, Marguerite Reardon February 11, 2020 12:48 PM PST

IMAGE - Not married quite yet.
Josh Miller/CNET

The end is in sight for T-Mobile and Sprint after nearly two years of waiting to close their $26.5 billion merger. On Tuesday, US District Judge Victor Marrero gave the green light to the deal, rejecting claims that combining the third- and fourth largest national wireless carriers would be anticompetitive.

Fourteen state attorneys general, led by those of New York and California, opposed the transaction and sued in federal court earlier this year to stop the deal. Their argument was simple: Combining the companies would dramatically reduce competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

But the judge didn't buy this argument, saying that the merger was unlikely to "substantially lessen competition." He said it was "misleading" to presume the deal would be anticompetitive given the rapid changes in the industry.

Consumer advocacy groups disagreed with the judge's ruling.

Links and much more - https://www.cnet.com/news/judge-signs-off-on-26-billion-t-mobile-sprint-merger-now-what/